Publications

December 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 15: Using the Levers of Control to Implement Strategy

By: Robert Simons

This module reading pulls together key concepts and techniques from the Strategy Execution series into an integrated model—the levers of control. The four levers are: (1) belief systems, (2) boundary systems, (3) diagnostic control systems, and (4) interactive control... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Levers Of Control; Balancing Innovation And Control; Managing Growing Businesses; Turn Around Management; Human Behavior; Organizational Life Cycle; Strategy; Management Systems; Performance; Measurement and Metrics; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Behavior

2023
Working Paper

Effects of Structured Sharing of Best Practices in an Unstructured Information Sharing System

By: Shelley Xin Li and Tatiana Sandino

Unstructured information sharing systems, such as certain enterprise social networks (ESNs), can supplement top-down knowledge transfer with a wide array of ideas through peer-to-peer knowledge sharing. However, the unstructured nature of such systems can also lead... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Best Practices; Enterprise Social Media; Management Accounting And Control Systems; Knowledge Sharing; Networks; Management Systems; Management Practices and Processes; Social Media; Europe

Read Now

This HBS working paper focuses on the relationship between business strategy, organization structure, and diagnostic control systems. The project analyzes data from 75 field studies to illustrate how managers adjust span of accountability and span of control to... View Details

24 Jun 2013
Working Paper Summaries

The Entrepreneurial Gap: How Managers Adjust Span of Accountability and Span of Control to Implement Business Strategy

Keywords: by Robert L. Simons

2008
Chapter

Management Accounting in India

This chapter surveys the history, evolution, and current status of accounting systems and practices in India. Tracing the roots of Indian accounting systems to the ancient civilization of the Indus Valley, we discuss the accounting contributions of historical writings... View Details

Keywords: History; Accounting; India

13 Oct 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Employee Selection as a Control System

Keywords: by Dennis Campbell; Banking

June 1999 (Revised May 2017)
Teaching Note

Guidant Corporation: Shaping Culture Through Systems

By: Robert Simons and Antonio Dávila

Teaching Note for (9-198-076). View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Risk And Uncertainty; Service Industry; Financial Services Industry

2008
Other Unpublished Work

Accounting, Risk Management and the Aftermath of a Control Debacle

By: Anette Mikes

Despite the widespread adoption of risk management systems in the financial services industry, recent control debacles highlight the apparent lack of top managerial attention to risk controls. Yet in order to understand the workings and uses of risk controls (or any... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Governance Controls; Management Systems; Accounting; Conflict and Resolution; Trends; Financial Services Industry

September 2016
Article

The Effect of Target Difficulty on Target Completion: The Case of Reducing Carbon Emissions

By: Ioannis Ioannou, Shelley Xin Li and George Serafeim

Targets are an integral component of management control systems and play a significant role in achieving desirable performance outcomes. We focus on a key environmental performance objective—reduction of carbon emissions—as a setting in which to examine how target... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Target-setting; Management Accounting; Management Accounting And Control Systems; Control Systems; Sustainable Development; Environment; Goals and Objectives; Climate Change; Management Systems; Accounting; Environmental Sustainability

2000
Article

The Consequences of Customization on the Use of Management Accounting Systems

By: J. Bouwens and Margaret A. Abernethy

The understanding of the antecedent conditions influencing the design of management accounting systems (MASs) is very limited. In recent years, significant research attention has been devoted to understanding how different strategic priorities influence these systems.... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Management Systems; Accounting; Customization and Personalization

2000
Book

Performance Measurement and Control Systems for Implementing Strategy

By: R. Simons

Keywords: Performance Capacity; Strategy; Management Systems

2010
Working Paper

Employee Selection as a Control System

By: Dennis Campbell

Theories from the economics, management control, and organizational behavior literatures predict that when it is difficult to align incentives by contracting on output, aligning preferences via employee selection may provide a useful alternative. This study... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Decision Making; Governance Controls; Employees; Selection and Staffing; Management Systems; Financial Services Industry

July 2004
Article

Determinants of Control System Design in Divisionalized Firms

By: Margaret A. Abernethy, Jan Bouwens and Laurence van Lent

We investigate two determinants of two choices in the control system of divisionalized firms, namely decentralization and use of performance measures. The two determinants are those identified in the literature as important to control system design: (1) information... View Details

Keywords: Design; Organizational Design; Business Divisions; Management Systems; Performance Evaluation

November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 14: Managing Strategic Risk

By: Robert Simons

This module reading provides an overview of the business conduct boundaries, strategic boundaries, and internal control systems used to manage risk. Boundary systems—linked to clear, enforceable sanctions—are essential whenever demanding performance goals are set and... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Strategy Execution; Boundary Systems; Innovation; Internal Controls; Fraud; Human Behavior; Staff Experts; Strategy; Risk Management; Behavior; Governance Controls; Management Practices and Processes; Boundaries; Employees; Business Strategy; Innovation and Invention

To explore how companies enforce management control systems, we examine whether social relationships influence the severity and consistency of punishments for main perpetrators of corporate economic crimes. We find wide variation in rates of dismissal and... View Details

Article

Employee Selection as a Control System

By: Dennis Campbell

Theories from the economics, management control, and organizational behavior literatures predict that when it is difficult to align incentives by contracting on output, aligning preferences via employee selection may provide a useful alternative. This study... View Details

Keywords: Management Systems; Governance Controls; Employees; Selection and Staffing; Motivation and Incentives; Decision Making; Business Model

September 2016 (Revised March 2017)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 3: Using Information for Performance Measurement and Control

By: Robert Simons

This module reading explains how managers use information to control critical business processes and outcomes. The analysis begins by illustrating how managers use information to communicate goals and track performance. Then the focus turns to the choices that managers... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Strategy Execution; Organization Process; Feedback Model; Innovation; Uses Of Information; Big Data; Benchmarking; Decision Making; Information; Performance Evaluation; Analytics and Data Science